Deerclan and the Rouges
by Hollyheart
Summary: Deerclan lives far away from any signs of two-legs, or other cats. As a result, they have all the prey and territory they could want. But when Sunfire and the rest of her scouting group discover that there are rouges in their land, Deerclan wants them out.


Sunfire opened her eyes, and squinted them as sunlight streamed into the den.

She saw her friend, Mintshade, pad into the den, stopping right in front of her nest.

Mintshade prodded her with a paw, and she mumbled, "What?"

Sunfire heard her friend sigh. "Because you overslept."

"What? No way!" Sunfire jumped out of her nest, kicking moss all over the place, including her friend.

She parted the lichen curtain covering the entrance, and saw that the sun was high in the sky, and the was bustling with activity.

"Oh no! How? I never oversleep!"

"I know, you are usually the first one up." Meowed Mintshade sarcastically.

Sunfire looked back at her and rolled her eyes.

"Mintshade, I am serious!"

Mintshade laughed. "I know, but it was worth it to see your face!"

She bristled. She turned and padded out of the den, but heard Mintshade running back to her.

"What now?"

"Fawnstar wants you to go on a hunting patrol with Thundersand, Smokeheart and Hollyflower."

"Alright, where are they?"

"Waiting for you by the entrance."

Sunfire nodded and ran across the camp, and saw the three cats by the entrance, looking impatient.

"Sorry it took me so long!" They all looked up as she spoke, and Thundersand glared at her. "Now we are off schedule!"

"What schedule?" Meowed Sunfire and Hollyflower at the same time.

"Fawnstar wants another patrol after us, and now the timing is off."

The two she-cats exchanged glances, and then rolled their eyes.

"It's alright Thundersand, the schedule is fine." Meowed Smokeheart in her defense, even though he didn't look to thrilled with her timing either.

Thundersand turned away from them, toward the exit. "I am the lead, lets get going." Smokeheart went and walked behind Thundersand, while Sunfire and Hollyflower walked in the back.

She saw Smokeheart start towards a squirrel that was in a tree.

He ran a few feet getting a head start, and launched himself into the tree.

The squirrel made a run for it, and tried to climb up the tree but Smokeheart caught it on his claws, and threw it to the ground where Thundersand killed it with a bite to the neck.

Smokeheart jumped from the tree, and landed quietly on the ground.

Sunfire whispered in Hollyflower's ear, "He is still the only I know that can climb trees."

Hollyflower nodded, smiling. "And don't forget, that Thundersand can fish."

She laughed and meowed, "Yes, we have some talented clan mates!"

"It's a good thing to; our clan seems to have the worst luck."

"Are you talking about the blizzard last year?"

Hollyflower nodded. "It took Smokelight and Rabbitclaw."

Sunfire cringed. Hollyflower hardly spoke of the blizzard. It had killed Smokelight, and Rabbitclaw, her father.

"Hey, are you alright Sunfire? You look a little… I don't know, surprised."

"Yes, I am alright." She meowed, a little faster than normal. "Anyway…."

She stopped as she scented mouse.

She dropped into a crouch, and looked around for a heart beat, before seeing the little creature nibbling a seed by a tree root.

She stepped forward, and stopped as the mouse looked up. She held her breath, and then released it after the mouse went back to eating.

She jumped suddenly, and killed the mouse before it even knew what happened.

"Good work Sunfire!" Mewed Thundersand through a vole he had just caught.

"Thanks." Mewed Sunfire back, after she had set her mouse down. She dug a small hole at the base of the tree, where she and Thundersand put their prey into.

Hollyflower took a deep breath. "It's such an amazing day out!" She mewed, as she twirled in a small circle.

Sunfire laughed, while Smokeheart rolled his eyes, and Thundersand ignored her.

"Come on you three, we need to finish the patrol."

"You are no fun." Mewed Hollyflower, as she stopped and then fell over, dizzy, onto the ground.

Sunfire smiled, and helped her up while Smokeheart went to catch up with his brother.

"Come on, we are losing them!"

"I know, but." Hollyflower stopping talking, and out a paw on her head.

"Why did I do that?"

"Because you want to end up in Coldbreath's den."

"Oh, no I am fine!" Hollyflower mewed, suddenly getting up quickly before Sunfire took her to their cranky medicine cat's den.

Sunfire smiled, and laughed to herself. *Works every time.* She thought.

The she-cats caught up with the others, and saw that they had already reached the river.

Hollyflower made an uncomfortable face, as she padded closer to the river and the dirt turned to sand.

"The sand is in-between my toes!"

They ignored her, and Thundersand padded to the shore. "I will hunt here; the three of you can go a little deeper into the forest."

"Gladly!" Mewed Hollyflower, but Sunfire grabbed her before she could get to far. "Shouldn't we stay together?"

"I will be fine, meet me back here in a minute or two."

"Okay…" Sunfire took her paw off Hollyflower's shoulder, and the three cats padded the other direction into the woods.

After several minutes, they had already caught another two mice, a squirrel, a chipmunk and three voles. And Smokeheart had managed to kill a rabbit from the moors.

"I think we have enough, lets go see what Thundersand got." Mewed Smokeheart as he took his share of the prey to carry.

The cats walked back to the stretch of river they had left Thundersand at, and say a small pile of fish beside him. "I caught five minnows; they are all over the river today. And not all that bright."

"That just means more prey for us!" Mewed Smokeheart happily. "It is lucky that we have no other clans here, the territory and all of it prey is ours."

"Lets head back to camp; we have been gone quite a while."

Sunfire and Thundersand nodded, agreeing with Hollyflower.

The cats collected all their prey and went back to camp.

They added their prey to the pile, and saw Lightningpelt sending another patrol out.

"Why so many patrols?"

Sunfire turned, and saw Patchpaw looking up at her.

"Oh, because we have a big clan so we need to make sure we have enough prey for everyone."

Patchpaw nodded slowly, then turned to the fresh-kill pile right beside them, took a mouse, and padded away.

"Okay then…"

"Hey Sunfire!"

She turned, and saw a cat running toward her. It was Mintshade.

"What?"

"Did you finish the patrol?"

"I'm back aren't I?"

Mintshade ignored that. "Great, I think we should go for a walk."

"Why the sudden excitement for a walk?"

"This isn't just any walk! Fawnstar wants us to go past the boundaries we already made, and see what is beyond our current territory. He thinks we need more."

Sunfire suddenly was just as excited. "Really? And he picked us?"

Mintshade nodded. "But he wants us to bring another warrior and an apprentice or two."

"Great, grab your apprentice and I'll grab mine! We could also take Minnowocean."

"Perfect, meet me here with Minnowocean and Autumnpaw."

Sunfire nodded, and ran over to the fresh kill pile where Autumnpaw was cleaning herself after eating a vole.

"Autumnpaw, come here."

She padded over, and mewed, "What is it Sunfire?"

"We are going to go out of clan territory, and see what lies beyond. We want to add more to our clan."

"And I get to come?"

"Yes! You, Raccoonpaw, Minnowocean, Mintshade and I."

"Great! Lets go!"

"Hold on there Autumnpaw, we still need to find Minnowocean."

"Well, lets go find her!"

"Have you seen her lately?"

"Actually yes, I have. She is over there with Hollyflower."

The two cats padded across the clearing, and stopped in front of Minnowocean and Hollyflower.

"Minnowocean, do you want to go scouting with us?"

"Yes! I would love to, finally some excitement."

She stood up, said goodbye to Hollyflower, and the cats went back to meet Mintshade, who was waiting for them with Raccoonpaw.

"Come on, lets head out!"

The five cats raced out of the camp, toward the borders.


End file.
